Gran turismo 5

Marketing- Sony computer entertainment marketed and advertised their new product 'Gran Turismo 5' in many innovative ways. Firstly, before the release of Gran Turiso 5 (released on the 24th November 2010) Sony Computer Entertainment released a TV advertising campaign following the fictional marketing character, Kevin Butler, who campaigned that Gran Turismo 'only does everything'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v3aCp899F8&feature=player_detailpage

Then Gran Turismo 5's advertising campaigns got a little more creative, At the October 2010 Australian international motorsports show, Toyota hosted a 24-hour Playstation3 GT5 endurance race, a recreation of the 24H Nurburgring, with a total of 48 drivers split into two teams, racing virtual interpretations of the Toyota FT 86 G Sports concept for a full day and night.
On November 14, 2010 it was revealed that Sony had teamed with Swiss watchmaker Tissot to host the official countdown timer for the launch of Gran Turismo 5. To promote the relationship, Tissot gave away one customized, GT5 edition Tissot, every day up until the release date of the game. This is a great example of synergy between the two firms.

Production- Gran Turismo is exclusive to Playstation, making it a first party game, as it is produced by a seperate company, Polyphony digital, and distributed by Sony, though only on one console. Horizontal integration is used in the production of this game as it is different stages of the production are passed along.

Consumption- The game has a multiplayer feature, meaning he or she can interact and race others around the world via the internet, this is technoligical convergence. This game can be played up to 16 versus online game mode, or 4 player local.

Distribution- GT5 has plenty of downloadable content on it for consumers to keep upto date with. This game can be ordered off the Gran Turismo website, or off online sites such as Amazon, Play.com or Game.com. It can also be purchased from Tesco's or any other big retailer stores. this enables the game to be purchased more widely available, benefitting the producers and distributers more.

Forza

IamMarketing

IamMarketing

One way this video game is marketed is by using in between commercial breaks on the television.  That way, the game is able to get its message across to a much wider and diverse audience.  In the adverts, they use famous cars, for example, Lotus, Ferrari, Maclaren etc.  They also use standard cars like Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot etc.  This range of cars gives the game a much wider range of possibilities - this is the game's killer app.

When considering the range of places to market this game, one of the most popular areas of use is Facebook.  Facebook targets a very wide audience where there would be a very wide age range to market to.  Use of Facebook would enable the consumers to put in their personal preferences like commentary on whether they liked the game or not and use of Facebook would also enable the consumers to talk to one another on whether they enjoyed or liked the game or not.  This would give instant feedback from the consumers.

Production


This video game was developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by MotorSport.  The game uses a wide range of cars from a Honda Civic right up to a prestigious Enzo Ferrari and the Le Mans prototypes such as the Audio 8.  This use of different levels of cars will appeal to a wide range of consumers as there will be a car to suit everyone's taste.  The production also uses customisation and offers colour change which has an artistic appeal.  The video game also had rave reviews in different well known journals.

Distribution 

The distribution of this video game is through many different sources and outlets.  Many are distributed through high street shops like Game, HMV and GameStation but one of the biggest selling distribution networks is when people buy on line.  HMV also provide an on line distribution service that is fast and efficient.  This way of marketing and purchasing the video game is aimed at reaching a much wider audience.

Forza is only available on the Xbox consoles making a niche market and basically Xbox has purchased the sole rights to distribute this game and by cornering the market, they will make vast profits for themselves.  The cost of this video game is £39.99.

Consumption

Forza can be consumed in many different ways, for example, the videos can be played on discs from the consumer's console, or connect to Xbox Live and play interactively with other people on line and this will open up a much wider audience both in this country and worldwide.  To make the game more interesting, downloads can be made of other cars, tracks etc. and this will open up other possiblities of varying the game and making it more appealing to consumers.

 

The Differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360

What are the benefits of the Playstation 3?
The Playstation 3 is compatible with Blue-ray discs, Playstation and Playstation 2 discs, audio cd's and dvd's. It can access the internet and you can get a controller called the 'Playstation Move' which makes game play more interactive, by using a wireless remote to move your characters around, much like the wii remote, as well as gaming headsets so you can talk to players whilst your gaming as well.

What can it do Online?
The playstation allows access to programs such as ITV player, 4oD and iPlayer, also you can watch music videos through the music video websites they offer, Movies and 'Playstation Plus' which allows players to play with exclusive features and games worth at least £200.

Can you create an Avatar?
You can't create your own avatar n the playstation as the games and console have their own characters, which you can edit sometimes in game play, by changing clothing, weapons in some cases ect.

What are the benefits of the Xbox 360?
The Xbox 360 can play dvd's also, as well as compact discs, as well as access the internet and update your hardrive to 250GB. You can now get an add on for the game console, which is the Kinect, where 'you are the controller'. You can also sign up to 'Xbox live' and play games against friends all over the world over the internet, and create your own 'avatar' to keep track of game play achievements so you can gain rewards from xbox.

What can it do Online?
The Xbox allows you to download games online, play with other players worldwide on your games you have purchased and communicate with people through their own personal forum specially set up for the Xbox live players.

Case Study: Institutions and Audiences - Videogames - NBA 2K10

This is one of the NBA 2K10 commercials for online and television. It has two of the NBA's best all-stars playing NBA 2K10 and shows them being competitive. This will make the audience want to play the game to see how good they are.

Marketing
When marketing this product they have thought about what kind of audience is likely to buy their game. As it is a sports game, it is highly likely that sports fans and basketball fans are their main target audience. In this case, '2K Sports' mainly did their television adverts on sports channels such as 'ESPN'. The adverts would be shown in between programmes but more specifically just before and straight after sports coverage of any basketball games. There would also be small adverts at the side of sports websites advertising the game to sports fans.

Production

'Take-Two Interactive' owns the company 'Visual Concept Entertainment' along with '2K Sports', which are the company that makes 'NBA 2K10'. 'Visual Concepts' are the developers of the game so they design all the game play, start-up menus, characters, etc. 'Take-Two' then decided to create their own publishing label called '2K Sports'. The publisher/publishing label designs all the packaging and advertising for the game but as '2K Sports' was created by 'Take-Two', this means they don't have to borrow funding from the publisher and they get to keep the money, making more profit. 'Take-Two' create 3rd party games as they are an independent company that make games for many consoles such as 'Xbox, 'Xbox 360', 'Playstaion 2, Playstation 3, 'Wii', etc.

Distribution
'NBA 2K10' was released all over the world in places like North America, Europe, Japan and Australia with 2 million units being sold. 'NBA 2K10' was licensed to be sold in major store retailers, like 'Game' and 'HMV'. They also licensed it to major online retailers, like 'Amazon.co.uk' and 'Play.com'. As well as stores they made it available to be purchased off their own website itself.

Consumption
The major aspect of '2K10' that changed from '2K9' is that they have introduced a new career mode called 'My Player' and also a new feature called 'NBA Today'. The 'My Player' career mode allows the consumer to make their own player to then put through training to try and get them into the NBA and complete a season in an NBA team. It allows them to change basically everything from how they look, to their shoes, to their muscle mass, to how they shoot the ball. It lets the consumer feel apart of the game and get attached to their player as if it were them in real-life. The 'NBA Today' feature allows the consumer to check out the latest news and scores on the NBA, provided that they are connected to the internet. Once they are online it is all updated automatically so it just appears ready for the consumer to view. This is a good feature for basketball fans as it makes it easily accessible for them.

Mario Kart

Marketing


Mario karts series started in 1992 and is aimed at anyone over the age of 4 both females and males.
There are several characters within the game including protagonists and antagonists of both sex so that its easier for the target audience to relate to them. Mario karts has improved over several years as the graphics are more detailed and the game is able to do more things than it used to for example you can now play up to 4 players at the same time on a wii game allowing the range of audience to increase from just one single child player to a whole family playing.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLrAZlxS7F0 . Mario Karts advertises their game in as many ways as possible to attract the target audience world wide. They're unique selling points are the celebs that advertise the game on television i.e girls aloud on the DS versionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKLWPOZ2Cs also the new features each series contains i.e more characters, different powers, different music and a larger variety of settings.


Production
Mario Karts was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Wii console.The game was released worldwide throughout April 2008 and every copy of the game is packaged with the Wii Wheel accessory, which is designed to hold the Wii Remote to allow s more fun and conventional steering.Players choose a character of up to 24 characters and from 36 vehicles,  the available types of karts and motorbikes depends on a character's weight and their performance on the tracks. Each vehicle has seven different characteristics: speed, weight, acceleration, handling, drift, off-road, and mini-turbo a specific software is used to create all of these features. 


Distribution
The producers of mario karts have given the right to thousands of shops worldwide to sell their games. specific shops in the U.K that have that right are Toys R us , Game, Argos, Disney store and many more including the wii shop itself and online.


Consumption

Nintendo Wii is easily attached to your T.V and connects within seconds, the Mario kart game consists of  several different controls from remote to wheel this is to suit the target audiences preferences and make it more interesting. The wii doesn't only use just wii remotes but also game cube remotes allowing people to make the most of their game consoles and their software used to play the game. Mario Karts is a racing game where people can verse others at the same time including a max of 4 players at the same time this results to the screen splitting into 4 sections creating tension and competition between the players. 

Mario Kart- case study

http://www.mariokart.com/wii/launch/

Marketing
Mario Kart is a fairly new game and the marketing done to promote the game is mainly from adverts on the TV, posters thats are found in game stores, the internet when maybe thinking of buying the wii console by its self, magazines etc.
The mario kart game has its own website which players are able to get onto to where you can find out about game details,characters new things to download.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PE_EqLfxM

The way the game is advertised on the Tv has included a popular pop group playing the game which will promote the game well.

production
The game mario kart was deisgned for up to 4 players. As this game is on the wii you need the wii remote controls to be able to play the game. There is also a steering wheel thats been designed so you are able to put the wii remote into the wheel and are able to play the game usuing an actual steering wheel.
To play the actual game there is no specific eqipment that is needed for just the mario kart game just the controller than comes with the wii console.
The game mario kart has been improved and improved over time, for example the character mario has been around since before the wii console was actually created with games such as super mario.

Guitar Hero- World Tour

Activision- guitar hero

Marketing

The marketing for the game guitar hero is basically a representation and a summary of the game. Guitar hero is marketed through the traditional use of adverts on TV and adverts in newspapers, magazines and billboards round major towns. E.g. London.

Guitar hero has its official website http://worldtour.guitarhero.com/uk/ in which downloads of songs for the game are available, top news of the game is shown, customizations and play modes for the game is shown and many other features to guitar hero is represented. It also has a page dedicated to media so the fans can get wallpapers and pictures of the games. Quotes from fans are also used to show their opinion on the game and to inform new-comers of their experiences.

Activision also has a company website in which it promotes guitar hero. As soon as you arrive on the guitar hero page on the activision website a video which has been uploaded starts to play and it informs the audience of the game and the knowledge and history behind it. Brian bright the project director for guitar hero explains the purpose and the creation of the game. The website also provides written information on the game and the different controllers and extra’s that are available.

Production

The consumer either decides to play single or in a group and they then choose the instrument in which a guitar, drums kit, singer and bass guitar is on offer. The consumer(s) then choose a song which they want to play and they then follow the instructions on the screen. If you’re playing the guitar for example the fret comes up on the screen followed by coloured notes which is a representation of the guitar notes which you have to play. The consumer presses the notes at the correct time and this is then sent to the Wii and is submitted to the players score and progression at the end. Brain Bright quoted from the video on the activision website how they improved Guitar Hero World Tour compared to Guitar hero. They incorporated a tap sensitive strip allows the consumer to tap instead of strum the guitar. This makes it easier to play the game and get high scores. He also explained how they worked with famous people such as Chad smith and the Chilli Peppers to produce the drum kit. Their main aim for the drum kit was to make it feel more realistic so they elevated the symbols from the snare and the tom to make it feel more like your hitting the symbols and more realistic for the consumer.

They also gave the drum heads a tactile feel so to improve the response time.

All of the instruments and controllers are wireless which allows easier set up and playing of the game.

Distribution

Guitar Hero World Tour is distributed in many shops across the world such as HMV, Argos, GAME and other video game retailers. The price of the game varies between £99.99 to £120.99. You can also pre-order from the Guitar Hero World tour website. Other websites are also available to buy the game are Amazon, Walmart, eBay, game stop and Redoctane. The game can be played on Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PS2.

Consumption

The game can be consumed by plugging the Wii, Xbox 360, Ps3 or PS2 into the tv and using the remotes and instruments to control the game. You can play individually or as a team or go online and compete in battles with other people across the world.